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Germination causes several changes in wheat grains that are necessary for growth, one of which is starch characteristics. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of laboratory‐induced wheat germination and pre‐harvest sprouting on starch properties, as well as to examine the application of extracted starch in films. Starch is extracted from non‐germinated wheat samples; pre‐harvest sprouting and germination are induced for 24, 48, and 72 h. Starch is characterized for chemical composition, flour yield, enzymatic activity, morphology, solubility, swelling power, pasting properties, and relative crystallinity. Subsequently, films of germinated and non‐germinated wheat starch are characterized by mechanical properties, thickness, opacity, water solubility, and water vapor permeability. Wheat germination is found to increase enzymatic activity, swelling power, solubility, and relative crystallinity of starch. A significant increase in film elongation is correlated with increased wheat germination time. These results indicate that germination of wheat alters starch properties and promotes production of films with attractive characteristics for future applications.

Wheat pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) is caused by high rainfall especially when the grain is in the filling stage. PHS decreases the grain yield, and is harmful to flour technological quality for baking, with a consequent decrease in economic value. However, the amylolytic activity promoted by germination can facilitate the production of cyclodextrin (CDs). The influence of germinated wheat starch concentration (1% and 10%) on the production of 𝜶, 𝜷, and 𝜸-CD is verified. In addition, the thermal stability of the inclusion complex between CDs produced from germinated wheat starch and orange essential oil (CDs/OEO) is also evaluated. The germination promotes the highest conversion yield (54.4%) at the lowest starch concentration (1%) used. The CDs/OEO increase the orange essential oil thermal stability, promoting their protection at high temperatures. Therefore, this study shows that germinated wheat starch is a promising substrate for the cyclodextrin production, adding value to this product that is, normally, not used by the food industry, but for animal nutrition or discarded.

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Consumers increasingly prefer and seek functional beverages, which, given their characteristics, provide important bioactive compounds that help prevent and treat chronic diseases. Mead is a traditional fermented alcoholic beverage made from honey solution. The aging process of mead with oak chips is innovative and bestows functional characteristics to this beverage. Thus, in this study, we sought to develop and characterize a novel functional beverage by combining the health benefits of honey with the traditional aging process of alcoholic beverages in wood. Phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity were analyzed in mead using oak chips at different toasting levels and aged for 360 days. LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS was used to analyze the chemical profile of different meads. Over time, the aging process with oak chips showed a higher total phenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity. Nineteen compounds belonging to the classes of organic acids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and tannins were identified in meads after 360 days. Our findings revealed that the addition of oak chips during aging contributed to p-coumaric, ellagic, abscisic, and chlorogenic acids, and naringenin, vanillin, and tyrosine significantly impacted the functional quality of mead.

Pre-harvest sprouting is a frequent problem for wheat culture that can be simulated by laboratory-based germination. Despite reducing baking properties, wheat sprouting has been shown to increase the bioavailability of some nutrients. It was investigated whether wheat cultivars bearing distinct grain texture characteristics (BRS Guaraim, soft vs. BRS Marcante, hard texture) would have different behavior in terms of the changes in phytochemical compounds during germination. Using LC-Q-TOF-MS, higher contents of benzoxazinoids and flavonoids were found in the hard cultivar than in the soft one. Free phytochemicals, mainly benzoxazinoids, increased during germination in both cultivars. Before germination, soft and hard cultivars had a similar profile of matrix-bound phytochemicals, but during germination, these compounds have been shown to decrease only in the hard-texture cultivar, due to decreased levels of phenolic acids (trans-ferulic acid) and flavonoids (apigenin) that were bound to the cell wall through ester-type bonds. These findings confirm the hypothesis that hard and soft wheat cultivars have distinct behavior during germination concerning the changes in phytochemical compounds, namely the matrix-bound compounds. In addition, germination has been shown to remarkably increase the content of benzoxazinoids and the antioxidant capacity, which could bring a health-beneficial appeal for pre-harvested sprouted grains.

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